The tribological properties study of carbon fabric/ epoxy composites reinforced by nano-TiO2 and MWNTs

Abstract

Abstract A kind of carbon fabric/epoxy composite was successfully prepared with carbon fiber fabric as reinforced phase and epoxy resin as binder phase, then the nano-TiO2 and a hybrid system of TiO2/MWNTs was added into the carbon fabric/ epoxy composite matrix respectively to prepare a kind of nano-composite. The friction and wear properties of CF/EP composites under different load conditions have been studied in this article, during the study the effects of filler types and contents on the tribological properties were researched, at last the worn surfaces were investigated and the abrasion mechanism was discussed. The results showed that: whether filling the nano-TiO2 alone or mixing the TiO2/MWNTs, it was able to achieve a good effect on decreasing friction and reducing wear, and the optimum addition ratio of the nano-TiO2 particles was 3.0% , meanwhile 3.0% of nano-TiO2 and 0.4% of MWNTs could cooperate with each other in their dimension, and could show a synergistic effect on modifying the tribological properties of CF/EP composites, the coefficient of friction of the modified composites decreased by 20% and the wear life increased by more than 140% compared with that of pristine composite materials, in the process of friction and wear, the wear form of the composites materials varied from brittle rupture to abrasive wear gradually.